From the Listening Post… 05/09/2010 (p.m.)

the unclassified portion of the federal government’s cybersecurity work is estimated at $6 to $7 billion annually. The classified portion is likely just as large — and potentially bigger

One reason the field is attracting so many companies is that the barriers to entry are low — at least relative to other defense industries.

“The strictly defense markets largely have strictly defense suppliers,” said David L. Rockwell, a senior analyst at the Teal Group. “In cybersecurity — so far you [have] had a lot more variety in who’s able to get contracts, and I think we can expect that to continue.”

The largest IT and defense contractors are keenly interested in helping the government manage its computer networks. Lockheed Martin, Boeing, General Dynamics, ManTech International, Northrop Grumman and SAIC (which recently acquired CloudShield Technologies) are all competing in the space.

On the House side, the Homeland Security, Science and Technology Authorization Act would double the money available to DHS for cybersecurity research and development.